Heathsville bank to close

Posted on Tuesday, July 2, 2013 at 10:37 am

Responding to changes in banking and the amount of traffic the branch has had in recent years, Bank of Lancaster will close its Heathsville Branch at the end of September.
Randal Greene, president and CEO of Bank of Lancaster, said Friday that transactions at all banks are down and that deposits at the Bank of Lancaster’s Heathsville branch exceed the industry’s 5.4 per cent decline since 2009 by falling 12.4 per cent. He attributed the stagnation at the Heathsville office to lack of growth in Northumberland County and to new technology that obviates the need to actually go to a bank to transact business. In the last census, Northumberland’s population showed barely any growth from the 2000 census.

The accounts at the Heathsville branch will be automatically transferred to the bank’s Callao and Burgess branches but safety deposit box holders will have to make arrangements for new boxes at the Bank of Lancaster branches or elsewhere, a letter to the Heathsville customers said. Greene noted that the bank will still have eight branches in the Northern Neck at which customers may transact business regardless of the branch at which their accounts are located.

The Heathsville Branch was opened as a Bank of Lancaster branch some years ago.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Jane Wrightson, who grew up in Heathsville, said she recalled there being an old hotel that was serving as a boarding house being on the lot where the branch was built. It was taken down and the branch built after she had left Heathsville for the service and college.
Questions about the changes may be directed at Joe Biddlecomb at the Burgess branch (453-4754) or Cindy West at the Callao branch (529-6161.)